Interesting about the SAINT'S magnetic approach.
I have chronic depression which is typically more low grade so it doesn't devolve as quickly and with medication, I have the brakes available to keep it from going off the cliff. But it's never "gone" really.
The simple explanation I heard is the endorphins allowing us to think and process are worked like a bucket brigade trying to put out a fire.
When a person is manic it's like the whole town is there and the buckets are flying full out and the fire is out and the lake is halfway empty and the main street flooded and still the people are passing the buckets.
When a person is depressed it's like the buckets have holes in them and only part of the water is making it to the end of the thought process and what "sticks" in the bucket is the negative stuff. Fun. As well the lack of general energy means there are less volunteers in the brigade and they are working more slowly. And whatever "FIRE" there is in one's life is still out of control as the skills to deal with it are spilling out of the buckets before they can be applied.
I am an optimistic person because my basic personality was set before depression developed. In my 20's I fought the issues with anger, not wanting to be "like my Mom" who was chronically depressed. When she died (I was 26) the anger left my sails and I needed to find real treatment.
I have had friends who have had really bad reactions to anti-depressants, but mine haven't been horrible. I am on the low level doses though. I did accidentally have an OTC (St John's Wort) that intensified my menstrual cycle to the point where I thought I should get a hysterectomy. (My family has history of issues with fibroids. I didn't know why I was bleeding so badly, but I worried that passing clots the size of a mouse several times a day was a bad symptom.)
Funny thing was that when I took St John's Wort, Wellbutrin and Xoloft together, I had my best experience NOT being depressed for a while. I remember being on a bus going to work and it was like seeing the trees and water for the first time, as if a grey film got lifted from my eyes.
But I don't expect huge things from my meds. I simply want to be able to function and put on the brakes when my thinking starts going down the hill towards bad thoughts.
But I have years of working on tools to keep myself in check mentally and watch for the signs that things are going off track. Like when we drive our cars we automatically do minor corrections and watch for anything around us that is dangerous.
I have friends who think meds are the only answer. They have been very disappointed.
Maybe this treatment might work for them.
I don't know if they would consider me an ideal candidate. It might be worth checking into though.
Thanks.
Tigress
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